Homeschool Online - A Short History Of Homeschooling
Before compulsory education laws were implemented in the 19th century, almost everyone was schooled at home. If not schooled at home by parents, uncles and aunts and older brothers and sisters, children were taught by a local community school teacher. In some cases, a combination of these methods were used.
Due to industrialization and the philosophies of John Dewey and Horace Mann, these methods morphed into an early form of public education, at first controlled by local communities and gradually becoming more centralized at the state level. Eventually, the federal government would get more involved.
In 1964, a public school teacher by the name of John Holt wrote a book to spark debate about childhood education. By the end of the decade he was a full-time proponent of a philosophy he called unschooling. It was the first well-thought out defense of homeschooling known since public education became widely accepted. Other homeschool advocates soon followed.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ray and Dorothy Moore, themselves educational authorities, broke from the ranks of public education defender and started advocating homeschooling. Their philosophy of education developed out of academic research that led them to conclude that public education was harmful to children, especially boys. They believed that the emotional bonds of development built at home was more beneficial to education than even the very best teacher. They began publishing their research and conclusions, sparking a lot of controversy.
Homeschooling Online